Tollner's 'terrible' budget fails to surprise

The Northern Territory Government has released what it has called a "terrible" budget, with a deficit of more than a billion dollars.

Treasurer Dave Tollner today revealed a $5.7 billion budget, with a focus on infrastructure and health.

Mr Tollner described it as a "belt-tightening" rather than a "slashing" budget.

"$1.7 billion has been set aside for health and $1.2 billion for infrastructure," he said.

Education will get $847 million, and $637 million has been set aside for community safety.

The budget deficit will be $1.1 billion.

The Government says that is higher than it predicted in its minibudget, and put much of the blame on cuts in GST revenue from the Commonwealth.

Mr Tollner says the budget was strained because the Territory is getting $16 million less GST revenue than expected for the next financial year.

"As a result, we have taken the sensible step to defer the achievement of a fiscal balance by two years, to 2017-18," he said.

"Not to have done so would have been irresponsible and would have meant more pain for Territorians."

Mr Tollner says the Government won't be following in the footsteps of other states and territories to target public service job cuts.

"There will be a reduction in staff numbers through natural attrition and the like, but we don't have a target," he said.

The Treasurer admitted the Government has slightly wound back its spending on infrastructure.

The former Labor government allocated about $60 million more on the sector in its last budget.

Mr Tollner says the Country Liberals' $1.2 billion infrastructure spend is only $23 million below the six-year average.

About half will go on housing, roads and transport.

The Government is yet to make an announcement on whether it will bring back open speed limits but it has allocated about 9 per cent more for road repairs and maintenance than Labor did in Budget 2012.

The Government plans to spend $101 million in this area.

Earlier, Mr Tollner said the Government did not try to bury the Northern Territory budget by releasing it on the same day as the Federal Budget.

The Territory budget was this morning after being delayed by two weeks, following a leadership upheaval and a change in forecast GST revenues from the Commonwealth.

The Government is also releasing its contentious mandatory alcohol rehabilitation draft laws today.

Mr Tollner told ABC radio's Julia Christensen that the Government knew it was releasing the Territory Budget on the same day as the federal budget, but had no choice.

"We did realise that," he said.

"I mean, you know, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't.

"But the fact was, at the time in March, we were just notified that we lost $120 million in GST revenue and that was an enormous change."

Opposition Leader Delia Lawrie says more jobs will be lost in the public and private sectors as a result of the budget.

"They are stripping some $300 million across their estimates from the public service, that is the agencies who are there to serve us," she said.

"At the same time, they're sending the state final demand, the domestic economy, into the negative, plummeting to a minus-15 per cent in their first year."

"It's a disaster for jobs."

Ms Lawrie says budget cuts will also hurt Territory businesses.

"We are about to see businesses go to the wall because the state final demand figures in the CLP budget show the Territory economy going from a strength of 26 per cent in the positive to a negative 15 per cent in just one year," she said.